July 2016

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY, JULY 18, 2016

An Action Plan to Connect Community Anchor Institutions and Close the Digital Divide

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Comcast and HUD Announce National Initiative to Connect Low-Income Americans to the Internet at Home - press release
   When consumers want their traffic to be throttled - AEI op-ed [links to Benton summary]
   How the Internet was invented [links to Benton summary]

ELECTIONS & MEDIA
   G.O.P. Arena Will Highlight Trump’s Media Blacklist [links to New York Times]
   Republican Convention Will Push Limits of a Candidate and the News Media [links to New York Times]
   PBS chief: Public media probably wouldn’t die under President Trump [links to Washington Post]
   Clinton Has a Team of Silicon Valley Stars. Trump Has Twitter [links to Wired]
   Op-ed: How technology is changing political conventions [links to Washington Post]
   Google search to help make it easier to vote [links to USAToday]
   Publishers and TV Networks Feud Over Streaming Feed Ahead of Conventions
   For journalists covering Trump, a Murrow moment - Columbia Journalism Review op-ed
   Why some in Silicon Valley don’t like Trump’s VP pick, Mike Pence [links to Benton summary]
   Donald Trump's running mate, Gov Mike Pence, is already loathed in Silicon Valley [links to Benton summary]
   Literary lions prod candidates on press freedoms [links to Benton summary]
   Both Trump and Clinton stiff-arm the media. Only one is a genuine threat to it. - WaPo opinion [links to Benton summary]
   Attack in France upends pre-convention media plans [links to Benton summary]
   Google wants to help you register to vote in the 2016 election [links to Benton summary]
   'Gotta Catch 'Em All': Clinton Campaign Targets Pokémon Go PokéStop [links to AdAge]
   Cruz campaign still facing copyright and breach of contract liability over songs used in political ads [links to Internet cases]

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   FCC Releases Forward Auction Info - public notice
   Next-Generation Investments Do Not Depend on Killing Net Neutrality - Free Press analysis
   Comcast Moves on Verizon Deal with Creation of Mobile Division [links to Benton summary]
   Blue Jay Wireless to Pay $2 Million, Ending Investigation into its Tribal Lifeline Reimbursements in Hawaii [links to Federal Communications Commission]
   Robocall-killing database should be created by industry, senators say [links to Benton summary]

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   U.S. to Allow Foreigners to Serve Warrants on U.S. Internet Firms [links to Wall Street Journal]
   U.S. military has launched a new digital war against the Islamic State [links to Washington Post]

TELEVISION
   PBS' Kerger Concerned About Broadcast Landscape Post-Auction [links to Broadcasting&Cable]

CONTENT
   What Is a Constant Cycle of Violent News Doing to Us? [links to New York Times]
   Dennis Cooper fears censorship as Google erases blog without warning [links to Guardian, The]
   Editorial: As more terrorist attacks appear inspired by the Islamic State’s appeal over social media, the struggle must move to the Internet, and winning the high moral ground with alternative narratives. [links to Christian Science Monitor]

OWNERSHIP
   Viacom’s Effort to Sell Paramount Stake Takes Another Blow [links to New York Times]
   U.K.-based chip designer ARM Holdings agreed to a buyout offer worth more than $32 billion from Japan’s SoftBank Group [links to Wall Street Journal]
   Saudi Push for Tech Deals Stirs Silicon Valley Debate [links to Wall Street Journal]

DIVERSITY
   Black Lives Matter Forces Hollywood to Get Real About Racism [links to Wrap, The]
   Female, non-white professionals added to emoji [links to USAToday]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   Social media access restricted in Turkey after military coup announcement [links to Reuters]
   Turkey's beleaguered president addresses country on FaceTime [links to CNN Money]
   Twitter claims 'intentional slowing' of service during Turkey's coup [links to CNN Money]
   On the detainment of BBG Chair Jeff Shell [links to Broadcasting Board of Governors]
   Phone companies allow free calls, texts to France after attack [links to Hill, The]
   It took nearly three hours for France's terror alert app to respond to Nice attack [links to Verge, The]

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INTERNET/BROADBAND

COMCAST AND HUD ANNOUNCE NATIONAL INITIATIVE TO CONNECT LOW-INCOME AMERICANS
[SOURCE: Comcast, AUTHOR: David Cohen]
On July 15, the Secretary of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Julián Castro, and I announced a significant, national effort to help close the digital divide for low-income Americans. Now, public housing and HUD-assisted residents who live in Comcast’s service area will be eligible to apply for Internet Essentials, the company’s acclaimed, high-speed Internet adoption program for low-income families. Including homes covered by Comcast’s public housing expansion pilot announced in March, an estimated total of up to 2 million HUD-assisted homes, including Public Housing, Housing Choice Voucher, and Multifamily programs, will now have access to low-cost Internet service. According to HUD, this number is also more than 40 percent of all HUD-assisted households nationwide. The announcement is an official policy change that marks the first time in the history of the program, outside of some pilot markets, that adults without a child eligible for the National School Lunch Program will be eligible to apply for Internet Essentials. This means veterans living in HUD-assisted homes who are transitioning from combat into the workforce will now be able to sign up for low-cost Internet, so they can use it to search and apply for jobs. It means senior citizens will be able to access the Internet from the comfort of their HUD-assisted homes to do the things many of us often take for granted, such as sharing photos with loved ones, communicating via video chat, paying bills, and following the news. Finally, it means adults without children living in HUD-assisted homes can get online and access a wide range of opportunities, from accessing educational resources to healthcare information.
benton.org/headlines/comcast-and-hud-announce-national-initiative-connect-low-income-americans-internet-home | Comcast | Multichannel News | The Hill
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ELECTIONS & MEDIA

PUBLISHERS AND TV NETWORKS FEUD OVER STREAMING FEED AHEAD OF CONVENTIONS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jeffrey Trachtenberg, Joe Flint]
On the eve of the Republican National Convention, a dispute has broken out between the five national television networks that have traditionally pooled resources to provide live video from key political events and the online news publishers who rely on that signal for their streaming platforms. The networks—ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News and NBC News —recently informed news outlets that aren’t members of the “pool” they will have to begin paying significant new fees in return for access to live coverage, not just at the conventions but debates, presidential news conferences, and many other events. Media organizations are pushing back. A dozen publishers, from traditional players like The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal, to digital specialists like BuzzFeed and Vox.com, protested the changes in a July 13 letter to the executive committee of the White House Correspondents’ Association. They said the fees are exorbitant, and pushed for a new digital pool to be set up.
benton.org/headlines/publishers-and-tv-networks-feud-over-streaming-feed-ahead-conventions | Wall Street Journal
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FOR JOURNALISTS COVERING TRUMP, A MURROW MOMENT
[SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, AUTHOR: David Mindich]
[Commentary] As Edward R Murrow wrapped up his now-famous special report condemning Joseph McCarthy in 1954, he looked into the camera and said words that could apply today. “He didn’t create this situation of fear—he merely exploited it, and rather successfully,” Murrow said of McCarthy. Most of Murrow’s argument relied on McCarthy’s own words, but in the end Murrow shed his journalistic detachment to offer a prescription: “This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthy’s methods to keep silent—or for those who approve,” he said. “We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.” After months of holding back, modern-day journalists are acting a lot like Murrow, pushing explicitly against Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. To be sure, these modern-day Murrow moments carry less impact: Long gone are the days in which a vast majority of eyeballs were tuned to the big-three television news programs. But we nonetheless are witnessing a change from existing practice of steadfast detachment, and the context in which journalists are reacting is not unlike that of Murrow: The candidate’s comments fall outside acceptable societal norms, and critical journalists are not alone in speaking up.
[David Mindich is a professor of media studies, journalism, and digital arts at Saint Michael’s College in Vermont.]
benton.org/headlines/journalists-covering-trump-murrow-moment | Columbia Journalism Review
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM

FCC FORWARD AUCTION
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Public Notice]
The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and the Incentive Auction Task Force identify 62 applicants found to be qualified to bid in the upcoming forward auction (Auction 1002), and announce that bidding in the clock phase of the forward auction in the initial stage will begin on August 16, 2016. This Public Notice provides details, instructions, and specific dates regarding the availability of educational materials, the opportunity for each qualified bidder to participate in the clock phase practice and mock auctions, and the start of clock phase bidding in the forward auction. This Public Notice also addresses the continuing obligations and auction procedures for all Auction 1002 applicants, including those that have been deemed not qualified to bid.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-releases-forward-auction-info | Federal Communications Commission
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NEXT-GEN INVESTMENTS DO NOT DEPEND ON KILLING NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Free Press, AUTHOR: Dana Floberg, Matt Wood]
The Federal Communications Commission took a highly touted step toward the future of wireless communications by opening up huge blocks of spectrum for “5G” broadband uses. (5G stands for “5th Generation” technology, a generic term for the evolution to follow today’s 4G smartphones.) These next-generation networks promise to be faster, denser and more robust than what we have today. They could help usher in an era of innovative services and applications such as self-driving cars and smart-city technology. 5G technologies are still in the testing phase, but the FCC’s decision makes room for early deployment efforts that could offer enormous benefits to the national economy. Unfortunately, as advocates for Internet users point out, the FCC’s decision is by no means perfect. It doesn’t do enough to guarantee that shared use of spectrum — think Wi-Fi — will be a big part of the 5G equation. Giving exclusive use of these frequencies to carriers like AT&T and Verizon would strengthen their stranglehold on valuable spectrum assets, and it could prevent these new technologies from flowing to everyone, especially those who are on the wrong side of the digital divide: rural residents, low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. Nonetheless, everyone agrees that the technological advances are crucial, even if there’s debate about how to make those leaps forward.
benton.org/headlines/next-generation-investments-do-not-depend-killing-net-neutrality | Free Press
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